The Graduate and Professional Student Council elected members of the Judicial Committee and Young Trustee Screening Committee for the new academic year at its biweekly meeting Tuesday night.
Amanda Pooler, a third-year Law School student; Jason Evans, a third-year student in the Divinity School; and Chelsea Gaw, a second-year student in the Law School will serve as members of the Judicial Committee, which aims to investigate violations of the bylaws and review proposed amendments to the bylaws.
At the meeting, student representatives nominated four candidates to run for three positions. Evans nominated himself. In the statement of intent, he mentioned his experience as a Judicial Committee member last year, which he found rewarding.
“Though not a student in the Law School, I am interested in law very much,” Evans said. “I will be especially devoted to the review of the constitution and bylaws.”
After a single ballot cast by all the representatives present, the presiding officer announced the result without releasing the number of votes each candidate received.
“I am really looking forward to a clear year,” Evans said in an interview after the meeting. “The Duke graduate student body has been holding a reputation of integrity for a long time, and I hope in the next year the reputation can be maintained.”
He added that during his last term, there was no report of judicial misconduct, which allowed him to pay more attention to the review of bylaw amendments.
The election of the Young Trustee Screening Committee came next. The committee oversees the screening process for the council’s nomination for Young Trustee, including managing the application, screening the candidates and presenting finalists to the general assembly, according the GPSC website.
Eight candidates were nominated to compete for seven positions, with another one respectfully declining the nomination. After the floor of nomination was closed, nominee Chris Marsicano, a third-year student in the Sanford School of Public Policy, dropped out.
“I feel that the other candidates are really competent and passionate,” Marsicano said. “Each of them has a quality which the committee needs. ”
After the meeting, he noted that although he wanted to spend more time with his studies, he still hoped to contribute to the committee.
The other seven candidates were confirmed by a motion of acclamation by GPSC members. GPSC President Felicia Hawthorne, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Program in Genetics and Genomics, said she was confident that the new members of both committees will help solidify strong connections and build the academic reputation in Duke’s nine graduate and professional schools.
“I do hope that there will be no judicial deviance among graduate students during the upcoming term.” Hawthorne said, adding that the Young Trustee Screening Committee’s dedication will contribute to the whole student body.
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